Phishing-E-Mails

What is Phishing?

The word phishing comes from the word fishing, to fish you something. The aim of the attacker is to fish the data of the user via a special Trojan or through the input from data due the user for empty your bank account. We differ between two different methods of phishing

Phishing e-mails with a request to enter data

Phisihing e-mails with an possible invoice or other documens in the attachment, in truth in the attachment is a malware file

Both methods can be done random or selective (e.g.: via a previous skimming).

Gets phishing more and more dangerous?

The question we can answer easily with Yes. Not only e-mails for entering data get more popular, also the number of malware samples which are found through IKARUS in e-mails rises explosive. In the year 2011 there were found in average 59 unique samples per month, in the first half year 2014 it were already 1140 samples per Month – that’s a rise from about 20 times more.

Also the methods of the hackers are getting better and better and the e-mails are difficult to differ from the real ones. In former times identifying phishing e-mails was very easy. The e-mail was in a very bad English or the e-mail was in a completely different language.

But the last outbreak was us shown that the hackers are getting better. A alleged IKEA e-mail could also not be differed easily by experts from the original one.

How can I protect myself?

The first and most important thing If you are reading e-mails is, to read with your logic:

The e-mail seems to be strange, you hadn’t order something or you don’t know the sender then this would be the first signs.

At the opening of an attachment, think better twice if the sender is trustable. If the attachment ends with a file extention which you don’t know or which seems strange then be careful.

Additionally you can protect yourself with security products from this danger. IKARUS mail.security for example filters all malicious e-mails before the reach your inbox.

Also with our desktop anti-virus protection your are good protected if you use Outlook or Outlook Express. Also here an anti-spam module is integrated and if you open the Trojan, IKARUS anti.virus disables the access and gives you a hint.

What should I do if I noticed that I am a victim of a phishing attack?

Ban or edit immediately all login details of accounts to minimize the damage

Monitor your accounts careful, you can find strange bookings or in your customer account is an order not from you?

Take help from IT-experts of course also from the IKARUS support team

Think about a new touchdown of your system – look also here to somebody for advice!

Inform the affected company, so the faked ssender, so that the company can alert other customers!